Migration Watch UK Comment on YouGov Poll

November 07, 2011

A new YouGov poll out today has found that 79% of adults in England consider England to be crowded; with 37% saying it is ‘very crowded.’

Only 3% believe that it is not crowded, whilst 15% think that England is about right. The figures were higher for London (85%) and the rest of the South (81%) while the rest of England and Wales were at about 76%.

The poll, for think tank Migration Watch UK, coincides with their e-petition launched on November 1 which calls on the Government to take all necessary measures to keep the UK population under 70 million.

The poll asked voters about the latest population forecasts, which expect the population of the UK to reach 70 million in sixteen years, 76% were concerned about this prospect (37% very concerned) while only 20% were not concerned; 4% did not know.

There was a difference according to voting intention with Conservatives at 86%, Liberal Democrats at 77% and Labour at 72%. The over 60s also showed greater concern at 86% while in Scotland only 62% were concerned.

The poll also asked about support for reducing net immigration to 40,000 a year in future years – the level required to keep the population below 70 million. 69% supported such a level (44% strongly), only 12% were opposed (4% strongly); 10% had no view and 9% didn’t know. Those intending to vote Conservative felt most strongly (83%) but both Lib Dem and Labour voters showed just over 60% support with 18% - 20% opposed.

Commenting, Sir Andrew Green, Chairman of Migration Watch UK, said:

‘This poll explains the huge public support for our e-petition and demonstrates quite clearly that most people think England is already overcrowded,’ said Sir Andrew Green, Migrationwatch chairman. ‘By more than 25 to 1 English people consider England to be already crowded. By more than 5 to 1 they support getting net immigration down to 40,000 a year. Only 3% want net immigration higher than the most recent level of 240,000.’

‘The position of Lib Dem voters is particularly interesting with 75% believing that England is already crowded, 77% concerned about a UK population of 70 million and 61% in favour of getting net immigration down to 40,000 compared to 20% who oppose this policy’.

ENDS

Note to editors:

The Yougov field work was conducted on 3-4 November 2011 with a sample size of 1561 GB adults (see attached spreadsheet for results). The survey was carried out on line and was weighted to reflect all GB adults. Only English adults answered the question as to whether England is crowded.